


i'll lead, you follow

by Frolis



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Illustrated, Oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-24 22:33:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17712905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frolis/pseuds/Frolis
Summary: “I don’t know how to dance,” Nebula mutters quietly. She sees Quill nudge Gamora with his elbow and lean in to murmur something Nebula can’t make out. They’re both watching. Nebula sets her mouth in a thin line and refuses to look their way. Instead, she focuses on Mantis, who beams up at her.Mantis talks Nebula into a quick dance





	i'll lead, you follow

**Author's Note:**

> Bugborgweek Day 07: Music!
> 
>  
> 
> And finally we hit the last day of bugborg week. It's been so fun to participate! Thank you everyone who's read and commented.
> 
> This one is a bit similar to a section of day 03's fic but perhaps a bit sillier. Truthfully I don't even remember which one I wrote first anymore haha. Special shout out to my friend Jenna for knowing Exactly where I was going with this when I showed her the accompanying art wip, and also for suggesting the song.

Mantis drops into the empty space on the couch beside Nebula with a breathless laugh. Her cheeks are flushed with activity and her hair is slightly askew. She smooths the stray strands back into place with an absent sweep of her hand and settles in beside Nebula, snuggling into her side.

“Finished dancing already?” Nebula asks dryly. She’s wearing her usual, grouchy expression—not the least bit impressed by the Guardians’ post (successful) mission celebrations—but she shifts to let Mantis lean against her more comfortably.

Mantis tips her head back until she can see Nebula, who is frowning down at her. “Just taking a break,” Mantis answers. “I’ll get back to it in a minute.”

Nebula grunts in reply and goes back to doing what she had been doing before—pointedly ignoring the festivities, which included her ridiculous sister dancing with her idiot Terran and the rest of the equally foolish Guardians getting boisterous and rowdy across the room. Beside her, Mantis studies her for a moment and then moves to flop down into Nebula’s lap. Nebula’s arms snap up reflexively before gradually relaxing as Mantis makes herself comfortable.

Nebula makes a face. “Happy?” she grumbles, even as she slowly threads her fingers through Mantis’s hair.

“Yes,” Mantis answers immediately. She closes her eyes and sighs happily.

Soon Mantis is absently humming along to Peter’s music, which was currently playing over the ship’s speakers. She’s almost dozed off, lulled by the repetitive motions of Nebula’s fingers through her hair, when the first notes of _Hooked on a Feeling_ starts up and she snaps back to alertness.

Mantis sits up abruptly, grinning, and Nebula’s fingers slip from her hair. “I love this song.”

She turns to Nebula but before she can speak Nebula beats her to it. “No.”

“Dancing is so much fun, though!” Mantis pleads. “I’m sure you’d like dancing if you tried.”

“I don’t dance,” Nebula insists.

“It’ll be fun!”

“Mantis…”

Mantis looks at her beseechingly. “Please? For me?”

Nebula’s protests die in her throat in the face of Mantis’s earnest, pleading look, and she silently curses her weakness even as she sighs in defeat and gives in. Mantis lets out a delighted squeal and leaps to her feet. She takes Nebula by the wrist and pulls her along onto the “dance floor,” starting in with a simple swaying motion.

Already Nebula is regretting this. The other Guardians have noticed her sudden presence among the partying—something Nebula is painfully aware of—and are trying (and failing) to discreetly watch as Mantis coaxes her into the dance.

“I don’t know how to dance,” Nebula mutters quietly. She sees Quill nudge Gamora with his elbow and lean in to murmur something Nebula can’t make out. They’re both watching. Nebula sets her mouth in a thin line and refuses to look their way. Instead, she focuses on Mantis, who beams up at her.

“It’s okay, Nebula. Just follow my movements.” Mantis clasps one of Nebula’s hands in her own, places the other on her waist. “I’ll lead, you follow. Okay?”

Mantis’s smile is warm and infectious, and despite her misgivings Nebula feels a twinge of reassurance. She nods, slowly brings her hand up to rest on Mantis’s shoulder.

She follows Mantis’s lead as best as she can, but she is surprisingly clumsy for how effortlessly graceful and precise she is in combat. Mantis doesn’t seem to mind, though, even giggles fondly in a way that makes Nebula feel warm when she fumbles, occasionally murmuring encouragement or advice.

 “Okay, twirl,” Mantis instructs, having told Nebula what that entailed in advance.

Nebula grumbles, “This is ridiculous.” But she does as Mantis instructs, and at first it goes well, but when it’s time to twirl back she spins too sharply, too abrupt, and she bumps into Mantis, making them both stumble.

 Nebula winces. “Sorry.”

 Mantis regains her footing quickly. She falls back into step easily, briefly cupping Nebula’s cheek.

“Relax. You’re over thinking it.”

She resumed their dance, gently prodding Nebula into motion. Nebula follows her lead, managing to fall into a stiff sort of rhythm that has Mantis beaming up at her. Nebula can’t help but smile back.

Suddenly Mantis’s eyes take on a mischievous gleam, and before Nebula can say anything the world drops out from under her and Mantis is leaning over Nebula, hair spilling over her shoulders and framing her face.

Mantis holds the dip for only a few moments that seem to stretch forever, and Nebula is too stunned to properly react. Her mind races and she cycles rapidly from alarm to baffled surprise to…even more baffling attraction. Nebula’s pulse spikes and she is all too aware of how close Mantis is holding her; of Mantis’s arm curled securely around her waist and the pressure of her fingers against her hip, of how tightly her own fingers had curled into the back of Mantis’s shirt and just how hard she’s suddenly finding it to breathe.

 _Fuck,_ she thinks through a dizzying rush of want.

The song sounds so far away to her now, and the tiny snatches that she catches swirl around her head in an endless loop.

_(I’m hooked on a feeling)_

Mantis’s antennae are glowing, but Nebula is too distracted by the moment to realize what that means until Mantis—still holding one of Nebula’s hands—gives it a squeeze and starts Nebula out of her reverie.

Of _course_. Mantis knows _exactly_ what she’s feeling.

Nebula’s cheeks darken and Mantis giggles, her own reddening as she yanks Nebula upright again and lets the momentum take into a twirl as the song winds down and finally ends.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Mantis asks, pulling her close and looping both arms around Nebula’s waist.

“I suppose,” Nebula grudgingly admits. Her heart is still racing and shows no signs of slowing down. “But that song was ridiculous.”

Mantis laughs. “I think it’s fun. And a little romantic.”

Nebula lets out a huff. She’s not feeling quite _that_ generous. She leans forward to press her forehead to Mantis’s. “Still…I wouldn’t mind doing that again,” she says, more quietly.

“Sounds like a date,” Mantis says, settling into their embrace and rocking them gently in time to the next song.

_(I’m high on believing that you’re in love with me)_


End file.
